If you’d like to apply for Leave to Remain, Indefinite Leave to Remain, or need a Family Visit Visa, I can maximise your chances of being successful.
Long Residence
If you’ve lived in the UK for 10 years or more, you could be entitled to make an application for permanent residence in the UK. This is also known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
If you’re interested in following this route, you will need to provide a detailed account of your immigration history in the UK before you apply, to make sure you qualify. Certain immigration-related events in your past could mean that this route won’t work for you.
If you’re a young person aged 18 to 25 years old
It’s possible to make an application for Leave to Remain in the UK if you can show that you’ve lived in the UK for more than half your life. Both lawful and unlawful residence can be considered. You’ll be expected to provide documentary evidence of your time in the UK. As is the case with other applications based on long residence, a detailed account of your immigration history is crucial to making a successful application.
If you’re above the age of 25 and you have spent more than 20 years in the UK
You could be entitled to make an application to regularise your stay in the UK. The 20 years spent in the UK can include lawful and unlawful residence, but there should be no periods when you’ve lived elsewhere. There are certain events which are judged to break the continuity of your residence, so it is a good idea to go through your immigration history carefully with me if you are thinking about making an application on this basis.
If you have lived in the UK for many years and have lost all ties to your home country
You can make an application if you can show that there are very significant obstacles to you integrating in your country of origin.
You’ll be expected to give a detailed account of your life in the UK, and an account of the difficulties you would face in integrating into life in your country of nationality.
In this application you will need to provide comprehensive evidence. This could include a detailed report prepared by an academic (known as a country expert report). The Home Office decision-maker will also have to carry out a detailed analysis of your circumstances and the conditions in your home country.
I recently acted for Edward, who arrived in the UK at the age of 15 and is now 32. I was able to overturn two previously unsuccessful applications he had made on this basis. Edward’s application was successful thanks to a thoroughly prepared case which included a country expert who is a respected academic with knowledge of the situation in Edward’s country of nationality.
Partners & Spouses
If you’re a foreign national, and you marry a British citizen, you do not automatically get the right to live in the UK.
In July 2012 the immigration rules for foreign partners from outside the EU were overhauled and become far more complex. Consequently, many families who are unable to meet the rules, or don’t know the documents they need to provide to prove that they can do so, have been separated.
If you want to make sure that your application is allowed at the first attempt, and you want to avoid the heartbreak of extended delays while you are separated from your loved ones, read this (three steps to making a successful partner visa).
If you’re a foreign national, and you marry a British citizen, you do not automatically get the right to live in the UK.
In July 2012 the immigration rules for foreign partners from outside the EU were overhauled and become far more complex. Consequently, many families who are unable to meet the rules, or don’t know the documents they need to provide to prove that they can do so, have been separated.
If you want to make sure that your application is allowed at the first attempt, and you want to avoid the heartbreak of extended delays while you are separated from your loved ones, read this (three steps to making a successful partner visa).
The income threshold for making a successful application under the partner visa route is £18,600. This can include income from you as the applicant, if you are already in the UK and have permission to work, as well as from your British citizen partner,
Income from employment or self-employment, or non-employment related income such as rental income, can be considered. In most cases you can also rely on cash savings to top up your income, or you can rely on cash savings alone if you have access to £62,500.
If you’re relying on income received from self-employment, or from a combination of sources which includes income from self-employment, remember that the immigration rules specify when the income should have been received, and that there are rules around sources of income which cannot be combined.
The rules in this area are complex and fast-changing. To be certain that you are on the right track, and headed for a successful outcome, please give me a call.
Children
If your relationship with your UK citizen spouse or partner breaks down, you can apply for permission to remain in the UK based on your relationship with your children. You’ll have to demonstrate that you have a relationship with the child, or that the child normally lives with you and not the other parent.
It’s important that you can provide evidence of how you intend to support yourself financially, e.g. the terms of your financial settlement, or interim payments. If you can prove you have the means to support yourself financially, you’ll be on the five-year route to settlement.
If you do not do this, you will be granted Leave to Remain under the 10-year route to Indefinite Leave to Remain.
UK immigration law recognises that children establish significant ties to the UK if they’ve lived in the UK for a continuous period of seven years or more. The non-UK citizen parent without Leave to Remain in the UK can apply for Leave to Remain in the UK at the same time as the non-UK citizen child.
Family Visit Visas
If you’d like to visit the UK, and you’re not an EU national, citizen of Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway or non-visa national, you’ll need to apply for a visa.
To visit the UK for six months or less, you’ll be asked to submit your application online. To be successful, you will have to satisfy the decision-maker that there will be adequate accommodation provided for you, and that you will be able to support yourself financially during your stay. As they will want to make sure you return home after your visit, they will also consider your ties to, responsibilities in and circumstances in your home country.
Please don’t assume that just because you’ve previously been given a visa that you will automatically be granted another.
I recently acted for Mr. and Mrs. Ali, a couple in their sixties who have been visiting children and grandchildren in the UK for over 10 years. They have always complied with the conditions of their visa visits but were refused a visa to attend their youngest daughter’s wedding. I prepared a detailed application on their behalf which addressed the reasons for their previous visa refusal. They received their visas on the Thursday and they flew into the UK on Friday, the day before their daughter’s wedding.
